1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer-aided methods and apparatuses for assessing organizational processes or systems.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Large entities such as corporations, professional associations, and government units often perform organizational assessments both within their own organizations and those of third parties, such as corporate divisions, subsidiaries, departments, and third party providers. The assessments can cover a wide range of topics, often relating to such matters as safety, efficiency, cost control, and reliability. Conventionally, such evaluations have been conducted in conjunction with on-site audits and inspections. Such audits and inspections, however, tend to be burdensome, expensive, and time consuming for both the assessing and audited entities.
To reduce the burdens associated with these evaluations, surveys are commonly employed to gather information concerning organizational processes or systems. A problem with surveys, however, is that validation of the accuracy and truthfulness of answers received is often difficult and expensive, especially when responses are prepared by potentially biased persons, such as suppliers of goods and services.
Another problem with conventional survey techniques is associated with generating an optimal structure for the survey. For example, a useful data gathering technique called “conditional response” involves presenting an assessor a question, and based on the answer to the question, branching to one or more subsequent questions. Each subsequent question may then also branch to further subsequent questions based on answers provided. In this manner, a complicated “tree” of questions and answers may be prepared. One problem with the conditional response technique, however, is that the assessment criteria which direct branching are highly subjective. Thus, the person developing the criteria may bias the survey. Furthermore, preparing or revising a conditional response survey tends to be difficult and expensive since the “tree” is highly structured, thus making preparation of the tree, or revisions to the tree, complicated, time consuming and cumbersome. For instance, if an early question in the tree is changed, then a whole series of subsequent “branching” questions may also have to be changed.
A further problem with the conditional response technique is that available answers tend to be absolute in nature. For example, responses to the questions typically demand a “yes” or a “no” with no option for a qualified response. It is often useful, however, to use other types of questions demanding nonabsolute responses. For example, a survey may call for responses such as numerical responses, multiple-choice responses, arbitrary textual responses, or multiple choices from a number of selections (e.g. “check all that apply”). Although these nonabsolute responses are often useful, adapting them to the conditional response technique often proves complicated and cumbersome.